On the Psychology of Hitler and Trump

Trump Raging at his “Enemies”

Comparative Psychoanalysis of Hitler and Trump

So far, 70, 000 mental health professionals, have signed a petition initiated by psychologist Dr. John Gartner calling for “the removal of President Donald Trump from office due to “serious mental illness” that they agree, “renders him psychologically incapable of competently discharging the duties of President of the United States.” Narcissistic, sociopathic, histrionic and borderline psychotic are just some of the words that have been used by prominent mental health professionals in their description of Trump.

Ironically these words are very similar to words used to describe the German Dictator Adolph Hitler by various mental health professionals over the last 75 years. These include Psychologists Dr. Henry A. Murray, in his report on Hitler to the (0.S.S.) Office of Strategic Services, Dr. Walter Langer author of the Book, The Mind of Adolph Hitler, and later by psychiatrist Dr. Harvey Cleckley in his book The Mask of Sanity.

COUNTERACTIVE NARCISSISM

Langer is quoted by Harvey Cleckley M.D. as having said about Hitler, “he was not insane but was emotionally sick and lacked normal inhibitions against anti-social behavior.” The OSS also came to the conclusion that Hitler was “an hysteric bordering on schizophrenia.“ An Excerpt from The Introduction to Murray’s Report reads as follows. “Murray pegged Hitler’s personality as ‘counteractive narcissim,’ a type that is stimulated by real or imagined insult or injury. According to Dr. Murray, the characteristics of this personality type include: holding grudges, low tolerance for criticism, excessive demands for attention, inability to express gratitude, a tendency to belittle, bully, and blame others, desire for revenge, persistence in the face of defeat, extreme self-will, self-trust, inability to take a joke, and compulsive criminality.”

Adolph Hitler

In a Characteristic Rage

THESE WORDS FIT HITLER TO A (Donald) T

Does Inability to take a joke describe Donald Trump, the man who goes on a tweet tirade because he is made fun of on Saturday Night Live? Do the words belittle and bully describe the man who said of Rosie O’Donnell, “If I were running my business, I’d fire Rosie, I mean, I’d look her right in that fat ugly face of hers and say, “Rosie, you’re fired?” Doesn’t every word in Dr. Murray’s description describe Donald Trump? Histrionic is the modern word that approximates what was meant when Hitler was described by Dr. Murray as “Hysteric.” Attorney Elizabeth Beck in an interview with CNN, said that Donald Trump had an “absolute meltdown” when she requested a break from a 2011 deposition to pump breast milk.

Beck said, “He got up, his face got red, he shook his finger at me and he screamed, ‘You’re disgusting, you’re disgusting,’ and he ran out of there” Recognize that this Hissy fit over Breast Milk comes from Donald who had no problem when his girlfriend now wife Melania in the words of British GQ Magazine,” was featured in (a) naked profile shoot on his customized Boeing 727 wearing handcuffs, wielding diamonds and holding a chrome pistol.” He also contained his hysteria when she appeared naked and in the embrace of another naked woman on the cover of the New York Post. He did, however ,demonstrate lots of histrionics when he appeared in a video apparently attempting to breast feed from fake breasts worn by Rudolph Giuliani dressed in drag. Go to this link to see a video of this.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M

CAN A PERSON HAVE 4 PERSONALITY DISORDERS?

Sociopath is the modern word used for Psychopath, and Antisocial and Borderline personality is a word modern psychiatrists sometimes use to describe what Langer most likely meant when he spoke of Hitler’s “ bordering on schizophrenia.” Narcissistic personality is the word used now for the Narcism described by Murray. But how could a person have 4 different personality Disorders?

The answer is that in general they cannot but people often have characteristics from several personality disorders in the same Cluster or family of personality disorders. The particular cluster that so many have thought describe both Hitler and Donald Trump is called Cluster B. The 4 personality disorders in Cluster B are Narcissistic, Histrionic, Borderline and Sociopathic. What the Cluster B disorders have in common are Dramatism and impulsivity. Hitler had many Cluster B traits with perhaps narcissism and Sociopathy predominating and so does Donald Trump.

IT’S NOT FUNNY

Although some of the things about Trump make people laugh, similarly to how people laughed at Charlie Chaplin’s movie “The Dictator,” in the words of Larry Hamm, Activist and Chairman of Newark’s People’s Organization for Progress this weekend at a community meeting at CEMOTAP, Center in Queens, “It’s really not funny.” What Larry meant of course is that a dramatic impulsive person is now commander and chief of the Army, Navy, Coast Guard, Marines and Airforce and has access to America’s nuclear weapons and nuclear codes. Hitler only had access to traditional explosives and nearly destroyed Europe.

IF YOU ONLY HIRE BARBERS, SOMEBODY IS GOING TO GET A HAIR CUT

He has also threatened at least one other head of state with “Fire and Fury” and has been appointing more Generals to the Cabinet than any other president since World War II. Comedian Dick Gregory quipped before his recent transition, “This man has appointed 5 generals to the cabinet and y’all don’t know where he’s going?”

Trump has so far appointed General John Kelly as Secretary of Homeland Security, General James “Mad Dog” Mattis as Secretary of Defense, General Michael Flynn- retired general replaced in the wake of lying about the Russian scandal with Mike Pompeo former Army Captain and West Point Graduate, as director of the Central Intelligence Agency, General John Kelly as Secretary of Homeland Security, Former Army Reserve Captain Sen. Jeff Sessions as Attorney General, Steve Bannon, former Naval Lieutenant (Equivalent of a Captain in the Army) Trump’s chief strategist, and Commander Ryan Zinke a former Navy Seal , and former “Dean” of the graduate school at the Naval Special Warfare Advanced Training Command as Secretary of the Interior.

Why would you need a Navy Seal to oversee, the management and conservation of federal land and natural resources, which is the purpose of the Department of the Interior? If you hire only barbers, somebody is going to get a haircut.

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Note: This essay was originally published by Dr. James C. McIntosh – a practicing Psychiatrist in New York – as part of a series on the psychology of Donald Trump in the New York Amsterdam News.